Prince Charming
by notantihero
Summary: Souji will never do that. Because the Prince Charming never betrays his princess. Have a gaggle of mistresses, sure. But never the princess. Never. The princess. Rise-centric!yandere fic.


**Chapter 1**

**Note: **This fic contains extreme yandere scenes. Like, blood and bits and torture and jealous girls, hence the rating. If you can't stomach that stuff, please close this. You've been warned.

**0000000000000**

Rise stopped watching dramas when she met Souji. If wasn't as if her fantasies were completely devoid of a prince charming to carry her far, far away from Inaba, from the unpleasant reality of the world – it wasn't. The lingering hope for such fairy tales is like a persistent parasite in every girl's mind, even if they are unaware, even if the world has lost all its joy and every morning is a mere drudgery of a repetition.

(It burrows in your subconscious like a tick. Like the image of a gray haired boy with solemn eyes.)

No, she didn't wish for a prince. Not in a metaphorical sense like Yukiko and Chie but in a more concrete

(more concrete than what?)

way – physically, perhaps. Emotionally. She's not quite sure. But then Souji came. Souji came and he's sooo handsome and kind don't you think so Chie-sempai? And Rise was head over heels with love.

_So in love_.

"I love you, sempai."

"We'll always be together won't we? You'll love me forever and ever won't you?"

"I'll never love anyone like I love you."

She said it like it's going out of fashion. She always had been the strange girl who only buys things after the trend fades, after all. It even earned her a reputation as The Idol Who Revives at one time, much to the joy of her public relations team. She thought it was the stupidest thing, but nonetheless smiled for camera, trying to maintain the best angle, wondering if her hair her makeup her stance her image her Risette was still perfect.

And then Souji was- where was she again? Oh yeah. And then Souji asked her out. Or was it before she said she loved him? Well, it doesn't matter. Souji asked her out and she was so happy she immediately treated the whole team at the food-court. She should have realized then – because... because his mouth was quirked in that way, you know? That particular way with that tug at the corner of his mouth, because the next time she saw it she was moaning his name in ecstasy under his rhythmic thrusts, their bodies gleaming with sweat, with come, with saliva. Once she had looked up only to see him smiling? smirking and his eyes were so dull dull dull it sent chills down her spine.

There is the same smirk playing on his lips whenever she sees him alone with another girl from the team – because it's all too easy to run into each other in such a small town, but he never takes that into account, did he? Each time she remains out of sight, ignoring the racing beats in her chest – the sudden urge to gnash her teeth and feel the running liquid when she drives a nail into his eyes cuts his lips off

(do you feel how I bleed? _DO YOU_?)

that fucking cheating bastard and his fucking whores.

It hindsight, it should have been obvious. But love makes you blind, remember? She thought she knew how love feels. It was as simple as batting your eyelashes, pretending to pout, and then going in for the climatic kiss, wasn't it? She'd been in love so many times in front of the camera she's starting to lose count, because they're all the same. Boy meets girl and helps her overcome her insignificant insecurities, or girls bangs into the boy in the hallway and falls down looking helpless while discreetly showing a lot of thighs. And usually ends with ten seconds of foreplay leading to unsafe sex before the screen cuts off to black.

But when Souji came it was anything but simple. It's still not – but she has learned to live with it like she's learned to ignore the sight of her (enemies) friends having their limbs torn off. But one can get used to anything, and so she's used to his indifference; his coldness as he shrugs off her request for dates. But sometimes he turns back into the same gentle boy she fell in love with, the boy with eerily precise answers and manipulative guile. Of course they always end up fucking when that happens. But she's okay with that. And she'll ignore his personal entourage of hidden whores as long as

"Sempai, we're spending Christmas Eve together, right?" she says, burying her face into the arm of his coat. It's eight in the afternoon at Okina, the air was surprisingly warm and the date surprisingly good. It's almost romantic, really. But he's distracted, scanning the crowd for unwanted familiar faces, just in case. She knows and she's okay with that, too. "So?" she asks again when there is only silence. "Are we?"

"...yes. Of course we will," he says, and smiles at her in a way that makes her heart skip a beat. She hates his cool, indifferent answer, but doesn't let it bother her because she loves his smile. It's a perfect day, after all. Even the occasional _are you Risette? Ohmygod ohmygod you're freaking Risette!_ doesn't ruin her mood.

She likes the attention he gives her today, them walking side by side like this, her arms linked around his. It feels almost like a fairy tale: the king and queen of Merryland walking in the midst of their merry, merry subjects. She must have laughed at the image because Souji is looking at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Are you alright?" he says in something that resembles genuine concern.

"Yep. Just remembered when Teddie-"

He follows her line of sight. "You want one of those?"

"Oh... no, it just caught my eye, that's all. I'm not actually interested in it."

"Don't worry, Yosuke got me a few shifts at Junes so I'm fairly loaded right now."

"Sempai..."

"Wait here." He waves off her protests, unlinks their arms, and strides into the shop. Moments later he comes back with a stuffed bear. "I took the one that looks least like Teddie. Won't want to remember him while you sleep, after all. I hope you like it."

Rise takes the bear and hugsit tight against her. "..I do. Thank you, sempai." Then she blushes and says: "I love you."

He brushes her locks away and kisses her on the forehead. "I know."

Of course, the next thing she remembers is him pushing her into a bathroom stall and slipping his fingers inside her. She reminds herself to clean the bear later on; bathroom floors are dirty, after all. But that's okay, too; as long as he sees her and her only.

**0000000000000**

It's really no fun shopping for presents alone, Rise thinks as she brushes her fingers absentmindedly against the rack. And why is she in Junes anyway? When she was in the city it was as simple as running out of her doorstep, into the mall, and everything was there – ripe for the picking. She's beginning to feel more and more like a country hick. Shopping for Christmas presents in Junes, out of all places. Who does that? Oh right. Pretty much everyone who lives in Inaba and its vicinity, that's who.

Well, that's a bit wrong. She's here because there's nothing else in Inaba – she's pretty doubtful Souji would like a block of tofu as his Christmas present. Which means she will have to take the train and go to Okina alone. Not a good idea because hey, she's oh my god freaking Risette it's Risette Risette Risette can I have your autograph you look better in real life I masturbate every day thinking about you Risette!

(Who's Kujikawa Rise? Oh, you mean that idol with those awesome legs? Yeah, that's her.)

Idiots. She sighs and thinks about giving the block of tofu anyway (because grandma makes the meanest tofu ever so he'd better appreciate it – and it's the time spent together that counts, right?), when a familiar voice calls out to her.

"Kujikawa-san?" Yukiko says, carrying a fire extinguisher (...why?) that looks entirely too big for her person. "Are you shopping for dinner, too?"

Is she? Wait, why is she on the grocery section when she's trying to find a present for Souji? "Oh no, I'm.." Rise pauses. "Um. Why the extinguisher?"

"This? Kasai-san told me to get one since last time I almost burnt the kitchen down."

"...oh. Okay." Rise tries to think of ways to excuse herself without making it any more awkward, but as she opens her mouth, she thinks better and says instead: "say, Yukiko-sempai? Are you free right now?"

Yukiko glances at the fire extinguisher, then up at Rise, appearing to think it over. Then she says, "well... I suppose this can wait. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Well, you know, I've been thinking. Since it's nearly Christmas and all..."

**00000000000**

Out of all the members in the Investigation Team, Rise can easily say that Yukiko is her favourite – apart from Souji, of course. There are others, but none of them are like Yukiko. They're a bit... (_slutty_) barbaric, to put it mildly. Chie seems to take a perverse pleasure in kicking trees, Naoto has that fetish with her guns, Kanji spends too much of his time making sock puppets, and Yosuke is just... well, Yosuke. And Teddie sparkles too damn much sometimes Rise feels like stuffing him into those overrated vampire books that are all the rage these days.

Yukiko's different. Well, Rise doesn't know why she's different – it's something like a gut feeling; those sixth sense stuff? Yukiko's always quiet and always logical, after all. The voice of reason. Not to mention she's a very efficient healer, and that makes Rise's job so much easier. And even her maniacal laugh can be endearing, after you get used to it. But Rise's jealous, too. Because she's pretty – maybe even prettier than her. And there's an air of effortless elegance in every action she does: something Rise can never, ever achieve, for all her classes and all her coaches and the careful strides in the mirror (_step forward with one foot over the other in a straight line; no no no don't slouch – swing your hips this way so you hair bounces that way so the lighting falls like that_... what a joke). She's jealous because Yukiko's _beautiful_ in a way that's the exact opposite of Rise's carefully cultivated beauty.

Despite all that, despite the urge to take a pair of scissors and cut those perfect hair and that perfect face, she doesn't hate her, not exactly. Because. Because. Well, just because. And that's fine, all right?

"Sorry, I'm not used to big cities..." Yukiko says, staring cautiously at her surroundings. "There's so many people..."

Rise laughs and gently grabs Yukiko's wrist. "It's okay, sempai. It can be overwhelming after Inaba... here, I'll hold you so we won't get separated, okay?"

Yukiko gives her a dazzling smile and inches closer. "Thank you, Kujikawa-san."

"...no problem, sempai."

Come to think of it, maybe bringing Yukiko is a bad idea, because two pretty girls attract more attention than one, and what's that fat guy with a camera doing?

"Hey you're Risette ri-"

"Oh look!" Rise says, "pretty shop!" And pushes Yukiko inside.

"What-"

"Sorry, someone recognized me back there," Rise says sheepishly. "But hey, at least we went into the right shop. Maybe. At least there's a lot of things here... I wonder if I can get the perfect present."

There's a lot of pink too, she realizes. Rise wonders how people can bathe in so much pink for a prolonged period of time without getting seizures. Shouldn't there be a regulation against this?

She glances at Yukiko and notices her inspecting a bowl half-heartedly. Rise sidles closer and taps her on the shoulder. "Who are you going to give the present to?"

Another thing she's jealous of: Yukiko doesn't have to take acting classes to learn how to blush.

"Well, I'm thinking of giving something for everyone, and..." (and there's that lovely shade of rosy red on her cheeks Rise wants so badly) "and I thought I'd give something special to Chie. I mean, she's… she's... um. Do you think she'll like this? I mean, she eats so much and and-"

Giggling, Rise pats her on the back. "I understand, sempai, no need to explain." Then she takes a closer look at the bowl and sees... well, the ugliest bowl in her fifteen years of life.

"Uh," she says doubtfully, "wouldn't she be happier with a Bruce Lee poster or steak or something?"

"Well, I thought that she has so much of those so I want to give something different, but..." Yukiko looks so dejected Rise almost feels guilty. "But I guess you're right." She places the bowl back and stares at her feet.

"W- wait, I'll help you with finding a present for Chie-sempai, okay? Cheer up, sempai. I'm sure both of us can find something that'll make her happy, so let's just browse around first, okay?"

Maybe that's why she can't bring herself to hate her, because Yukiko has zero interest in Souji. And that's okay in her book.

She still hates her perfect face, though.

**00000000000**

After two hours of browsing aimlessly, they finally got what they were looking for.

Yukiko's happy with the running shoes she bought for Chie, and Rise's happy with the watch she bought for Souji. It's a bit expensive – decreasing her savings by fifty thousand yen – but if it's for him, then it can only be the best, right? Rise doesn't mind even if she only has a little bit of money left in her account, because Souji is Souji and she'll do anything for him.

She in love, and love makes one blind

(feeds on you like a glorified parasite)

to everything else. Makes you blind to your lover's flaws and faults, his lies and deceits. But she's not blind, see? She knows all about his affairs and his collection of girlfriends, so she's definitely not blind. She's just... tolerant. Yes. Tolerant. That's a good word. One has to be tolerant to make a relationship work, she once read in a shoddy gossip magazine (below it: _Five Ways to Surprise Him in Bed_). She can bury her jealousy and unease because he promised they're going to spend Christmas together – the ultimate emotional consummation for young couples.

Souji never breaks his promise (because he never commits himself into making one), so Rise will give him the benefit of the doubt. They'll spend Christmas together, and then they'll eat the cake she made, and then they'll have sex and after that they'll lie together in bed, basking in an awesome post-coital cuddle. She's got it all planned. Everything will be just, just perfect.

Besides the cake she tries to make, at least.

That will probably be the one flaw in her plan, because the counter is covered in flour and egg, and there's nothing to show for it besides something slimy and black. Well, it's the thought that counts. He won't mind, because Souji's nice and kind when he wants to be. And isn't she his favourite?

But first. The counter. And oh, the teddy bear. She needs to clean that up, too. Got to do that before grandma comes home. She would probably have a heart attack when she sees her beloved kitchen like this.

Wait. Maybe she should text him first.

_Looking forward to spending xmas with you sempai ^_^ _she writes, then pockets her phone inside her apron.

Now, the detergent and... where's that sponge?

**00000000000**

It's seven in the afternoon and Rise is walking towards Souji's house with the meticulously wrapped present clutched in her hand and the plastic bag containing grandma's best tofu swinging from her elbow. It's going to be a good night. The stars are beautiful, and if Rise looks closely and lets her imagination run wild, she thinks she can even arrange the chaos into constellations. And there's the evening star, shining brighter than everything else. It's going to be a good night, even if Souji never replied to her text, even if her calls were unanswered. Because how can things go wrong when she has all the stars watching over her?

Even Kanzeon is quiet; there's none of her constant chatter of mercy and forgiveness and this and that – because despite of how much Rise loves her persona, it can get annoying after a while. But Kanzeon knows her better than anyone else, so she remains silent because she knows Rise is happy. The happiest she has been in a long time. That's enough for Rise: the acknowledgment that her persona understands her; supports her in her Quest for Love.

She's almost at Souji's house when Kanzeon suddenly catches a strong emotion. Overwhelming joy. Love. Rise feels it, but knows it's not hers. The emotion is so different from hers, so different, they might as well be the opposite in the spectrum of light. It's bright, energetic, brilliant, stronger, almost blinding – it reminds her of a familiar colour... magenta? Yellow? Something along that line. She has no time to dwell on such a trivial matter, however. But she sincerely wishes the lucky person good luck. It's Christmas Eve, and everyone deserves to be happy, even if it's only for today.

Before she knows it, she's already in front of the Dojima residence. She checks her reflection, straightens her coat, rearranges her presents and knocks. And knocks.

...strange. There's no answer. But the lights are on and there's a sound like muffled cries. And Souji promised, so he should be in. He should. He fucking _promised._ Unless

She sighs in relief when the door opens, revealing Souji (why is his hair tousled like that? His shirt half-unbuttoned?). She doesn't understand why he looks so surprised when it's a date and she's expected. Isn't she. She is. Because otherwise otherwise no, Souji will never do that. Because the Prince Charming never betrays his princess. Have a gaggle of mistresses, sure. But never the princess.

"Rise? Why are you here?" the Prince Charming says, looking not quite so charming with his dishevelled look.

Rise stares at him for a moment. Then at the floor, where she sees Souji's usual shoes, and... and a pair of sneakers. And only one person in the entire team uses sneakers. "Oh, it's nothing. Just wanted to wish you merry Christmas." She smiles at his (guiltyguiltyguilty) befuddled look. "Merry Christmas, sempai. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do."

Souji closes the door without so much as a thank you, Rise, you too. Rise walks away. Maybe she should sit and rest somewhere. Somewhere with swings and see-saws, like the ones she used to play on as a kid. A park, then.

(it's not magenta or yellow; it's green green _GREEN_)

One thing she loves about living in Japan is the abundance of parks. One can't walk more than a hundred metres without bumping into one. But she's been walking for fifteen minutes and there's nothing but rice paddies and the occasional wooden houses. Not even a convenience store. Or a car. It feels like an alien world compared to the hustle and bustle of the city. An alien world where there are shadows and Shadows, and fogs rolling by, and deserted streets after eight, and ominous television sets. Like a B-grade slasher movie, but without the mask wearing axe-murderer.

She'll have to improvise, then. So she sits under the nearest tree and stares at the night sky. She can't make out the constellations, or galaxies, or the evening star. Because her sight is blurry. So, so blurry. She needs to buy new contacts first thing tomorrow. And grandma's tofu- oh, there it is. Grandma's tofu. Maybe she should eat it. She skipped dinner so she'll appear slimmer to Souji, after all; and now her stomach is grumbling. How many calories are there in tofu? She doesn't want to get fat, but maybe, maybe just this once.

She takes a bite and it melts in her mouth. It's delicious, but salty. She needs to remind grandma to go easier on the salt.

**00000000000 **

The next day she arranges a meeting with Yukiko. She doesn't care if it's the 25th and everyone is still in holiday mode or if Yukiko sounds like she had just woken up.

"Look sempai, I'm sorry I woke you up. And I know it's sudden, but we need to meet," she says into the phone. Her free hand is holding a pen, and she's writing meticulously on a brand new notepad. There's a pause on the phone, then the rustle of fabric. Yukiko sounds like she's either dressing up or rolling around inside her blanket. A moment later Rise hears an intelligible, groggy mumble. "It's already ten, sempai." Rise sighs, moving the phone between her ear and shoulder. "No I... not a good time? Well then. I guess you don't want to know about Chie-sem- oh. Okay. No, not Junes. I'll go to the inn, is that alright? Yeah. See you, sempai."

With that over with, Rise stuffs her notepad inside her bag along with the pen, zips her boots up, and heads towards the door.

"Don't be so prude, Kanzeon. Manipulation is part of compassion, too. Just ask Sun Tzu. Or maybe it's Confucius. What? ...oh. My wallet. Thanks."

**00000000000**

"Are you sure? Because..." Yukiko hesitates, sliding the cup between her hands. Left. Right. Left. Right. "Because Chie said that she's..."

"Going to spend the day with you? Yeah, I heard that too from Souji-sempai. The same lame promise."

Yukiko looks beautiful in white, with her loosely clad yukata and hair sticking out here and there. She doesn't even bother with polishing her looks after waking up: the type of girl who can roll out of bed and still appear perfect. Rise wonders if she can pull that look off, without make up and that yukata thing. Probably not; her manager would kill her. If she still had one. Does she? She's not sure anymore.

"But Chie would never do that. She's... she said she loves me. She's just busy, wasn't she? She did say her family was going to have a private party with the extended family and her presence was required, so she couldn't spend Christmas with me."

Oh, sempai, stop bothering my train of thought, Rise almost blurts out. But instead she says: "yeah. Souji-sempai would probably say that too. If he had even bothered with sparing my feelings."

Yeah. What an asshole. Prince Charming has gone to the dark side. Or maybe he's always been there from the beginning. Rise takes a sip of her green tea, and almost gagged. It's definitely not a drink fit for mortals. She glares and it and wonders if it's expired or something, because it's probably bitter enough to knock an elephant down. But green tea is good for the metabolism, and god knows Rise's not slim enough. So she takes little sips, and waits for Yukiko to sort out her thoughts. They're in the same sinking boat, after all. And when a boat is sinking, the only logical action is to punch more holes into it and sabotage another boat.

"But maybe you're wrong, maybe it's not Chie. Someone else. It's easy to mistake something like that, after all."

And maybe burn both boats down. Welcome to the We Just Got Screwed By Our Princes club!

Rise rolls her eyes at Yukiko's naivety. "Please, sempai. It's Chie-sempai's favourite training shoes, okay? And who the hell would wear sneakers for _Christmas_?"

"A member of the sports club?"

What the. Unless Souji's gay (well, he might be, actually, seeing his penchant to screwing any biped that moves) and his partner has extremely small feet. "Fine. What about the clothes? I saw it, sempai. Chie-sempai's clothes on the floor."

"Maybe-"

"Don't even. It's Chie-sempai's. The tell-tale green jacket? Check. The hot pants? Yeah. Check. The shoes? Cheeck. The green underwear? Totally." Okay, fine. Maybe she took a bit artistic liberty with the clothes part. She didn't see anything, but that doesn't mean nothing was there. Knowing Souji, Chie was probably in the bathroom, or handcuffed to his table, or naked in the backyard or something. He has the weirdest fetishes, sometimes.

Yukiko looks down. The cup has stopped moving (thank god. It was getting annoying), but Rise notices that Yukiko's biting her lower lip. "I have to think about this," she says after a moment of silence, not even looking at Rise.

Rise takes one last sip and rises from her seat, knowing that she has overstayed her welcome. "Okay. I'm always available, sempai, if you need to talk. Or anything at all. Remember that." And walks out, wondering how Yukiko must be feeling, to have her prince fail her twice.

**00000000000**

She bumps into Yosuke as she approaches the flood plains for her daily walk.

"Rise!" Yosuke shouts from the distance, waving enthusiastically. He jogs towards Rise, then doubles over upon reaching her, out of breath. Pretty weak for someone who spent at least three days a week fighting Shadows. But then again, they haven't gone into the TV for a while.

"Afternoon, sempai. It's rare meeting you here." Rise smiles, then hands Yosuke the water bottle she's been carrying. And watches in chagrin as he gulps down half of it. Damn. Where's the nearest vending machine again?

Apparently satisfied, Yosuke screws lid back on and jerks his thumb backwards over his shoulder. "Yeah, Teddie pestered me all morning to bring him fishing here. It's Christmas and all, but the guy has no social etiquette anyway. I'm kinda used to it by now." He shrugs and gives her a wry grin that probably means I-find-him-annoying-but-I'm-also-kinda-fond-of-him -so-now-we're-best-buds. "So hey, what are you-"

Her phone chimes loudly. Rise reads the caller ID, then smiles apologetically at Yosuke. "Sorry sempai, gotta take this."

"Go on. Don't worry about me."

She holds the phone on her ear, listens for a while, then says simply: "okay." And flips it closed.

Surprising. It hasn't even been four hours, but she's already made a decision. But hey, life is good. She beams at Yosuke because she can't help it. Everything is falling perfectly in place.

"Whoa, who was that? Your boyfriend? You look positively happy, man."

Rise grins. "Well, you guessed wrong then. But right now she's more important to me than a simple boyfriend."

"She? Wait, are you-"

"Sorry gotta go, sempai. Have a nice day fishing with Teddie. Hope you catch something. Say hi to him, okay?"

"Sure. Hey, your water-"

But Rise is already skipping away. Her heart feels light. It feels like the thrill of lining dominoes perfectly, then watching the line topple as they collapse onto each other, unbroken. Like watching Humpty Dumpty cracking his head open when he fell off the wall.


End file.
